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Death of Brian Wells
Brian Douglas Wells (November 15, 1956 – August 28, 2003) was an American pizza delivery man who was killed by a remotely controlled bomb fastened to his neck, under coercion from the maker of the bomb. After he was apprehended by the police for robbing a bank, the bomb was detonated. The bizarre affair was subject to much attention in the mass media. Charges In a July 2007 indictment, federal prosecutors alleged that Wells had been involved in the planning of the botched bank-robbery. Two of his alleged co-conspirators, Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong and Kenneth Barnes, were indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of bank robbery, conspiracy, and weapons charges. Kenneth Barnes subsequently pleaded guilty in September 2008 and largely confirmed that Wells was indeed involved in planning the robbery but also revealed Wells was under the impression an actual bomb would not be used. When he discovered the bomb was real, Barnes said a pistol was fired in order to force Wells' compliance, and witnesses confirmed hearing a gunshot. On December 4, 2008, U.S. District Judge sentenced Barnes to 45 years in federal prison for his role in the bank robbery and use of a destructive device during a crime of violence. On November 1, 2010, Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong was found guilty of participating in the crime, and was sentenced to life plus 30 years on February 28, 2011 Investigation Wells dropped out of high school in 1973. For nearly 30 years, he worked as a pizza delivery man and was considered a valued and trusted employee of the Mama Mia Pizzeria in . On the afternoon of August 28, 2003, Wells received a call to deliver two pizzas to 8631 Peach Street, an address a few miles from the pizzeria. It was later found that the address was that of the radio station's transmission tower at the end of a dirt road. According to law enforcement reports, Wells was allegedly meeting people he thought were his accomplices, including Barnes. Wells allegedly participated in the planning for the robbery, and he had been told the bomb was going to be fake. Furthermore, he was to claim that three black men had forced the bomb on him and were holding him as a hostage. At the television tower, Wells learned that the device was real. He wrestled with the men (presumably Barnes and William A. Rothstein) and tried to flee, but one of them fired a gun, causing Wells to stop. It was at this time that the collar bomb is assumed to have been attached. The culprits gave him a sophisticated home-made shotgun, which had the appearance of an unusually-shaped cane, and told him to use it if he encountered resistance at the bank. Wells then entered a bank with the shotgun and demanded $250,000. When police intervened, Wells claimed that three unnamed people had placed a bomb around his neck, provided him with the shotgun, and told him that he had to commit the robbery and several other tasks, lest they kill him. The triple-banded metal collar that was locked around Wells' neck was used during the bank robbery. At first, the police made no attempt to disarm the device. The bomb squad was first called at 3:04 PM, at least 30 minutes after the first call. At 3:18 PM, just three minutes before the bomb squad arrived, the bomb detonated and blasted a fist-sized hole in Wells' chest, killing him. It is believed that Wells was killed by Diehl-Armstrong and her conspirators to reduce witnesses against herself and others. The event was broadcast on television and the footage subsequently found its way to video sharing sites. A note found on Wells had instructions for him to carry out four tasks (the first of which was the bank robbery) in a set period of time before the bomb went off. Wells would gain extra time with the completion of each task. However, it was later determined that regardless of what had unfolded, Wells would never have had enough time to complete the tasks to get the bomb defused: police traveled the route on the note and couldn't complete it in the time the note allocated to Wells. Wells was allegedly drawn into the plot through Barnes, whom he knew through Diehl-Armstrong. The plot was hatched to get funds to pay Barnes enough money to kill Diehl-Armstrong's father, so that Diehl-Armstrong would receive an inheritance, according to authorities. However, Wells had only stolen $8,702, far from the $125,000 needed for the killing. Furthermore, the inheritance Diehl-Armstrong reportedly coveted was largely spent. Indictments On February 16, 2007, the Associated Press reported that "the case has been solved and indictments are expected, likely by next month." A federal grand jury in Erie, PA was still hearing evidence in the case as of May 13, 2007, according to the . According to the paper, three suspects were identified as perpetrators of the plot. On July 10, 2007, charges were filed against two individuals for crimes related to the robbery and death. Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong (who was imprisoned on an unrelated murder charge at the time) was charged with three criminal acts: bank robbery, conspiracy to commit bank robbery and felony use of a firearm in connection with a crime. Kenneth Barnes (who was imprisoned on unrelated drug charges at the time) was also charged without disclosure of the specific crimes. On July 11, 2007, the U.S. Attorney's office and the FBI announced that Brian Douglas Wells had been named as a conspirator because of his participation in the execution of the robbery. U.S. Attorney argued that Wells' action of actually robbing the bank made him a conspirator in the crime. Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong and Kenneth Barnes had been charged with felonies in the case. A third person in the case, Floyd Stockton, 60, was given immunity in a deal with prosecutors to testify against Barnes and Diehl-Armstrong. Despite naming Wells as a conspirator, U.S. Attorney said she couldn't comment on what his motive might have been. Rothstein was also named as a conspirator, but was not charged, having died of in 2004. On July 29, 2008, U.S. District Court Judge made an initial finding that Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong was mentally incompetent to stand trial for the bombing due to a number of mental disorders, indicating that this ruling would be reviewed after Diehl-Armstrong had received a period of treatment in a mental hospital. She was then transferred for treatment in a federal prison mental health facility in Texas. On September 3, 2008, Kenneth Barnes pleaded guilty to conspiring to rob a bank and to aiding and abetting. On December 3, 2008 Kenneth Barnes was sentenced to 45 years in prison by a Federal judge in Erie for his role in the crime. On February 24, 2009, Judge McLaughlin scheduled a hearing for March 11, 2009, to determine if Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong was now competent to stand trial. Judge McLaughlin ruled Diehl-Armstrong incompetent to stand trial in July 2008. On September 9, 2009, the judge determined that she was indeed competent to stand trial. As of October 2010, Diehl-Armstrong's trial was underway in Erie, Pennsylvania and she had taken the stand to testify on her own behalf as part of her defense. On November 1, 2010, Diehl-Armstrong was convicted of armed bank robbery, conspiracy to commit armed bank robbery, and of using a destructive device in a crime. She was sentenced to life plus 30 years on February 28, 2011. In November 2012 the affirmed her conviction. In January 2013, the denied her petition for , declining to hear her case. In December 2015, Diehl-Armstrong lost a second appeal of her conviction. She died in jail of "natural causes" on 4 April 2017 Media attention The incident and the subsequent investigation made the national media several times as the case continued to develop. When the story broke, many wrongly believed the incident to be related. featured the story three times with newly released evidence in hopes officials could gather new clues behind the puzzling case. A collection of news articles that reported developments in the Brian Wells story was analyzed in a scientific study of information novelty. The story was described in detail in the January 2011 issue of the magazine. Category:Death Category:Crime